Translation of text from photographs online. Online photo translator for mobile platforms: Android, iOS, Windows Phone

Not every one of us has the opportunity or talent to learn several foreign languages, but when visiting new countries, making acquaintances or getting a job, we cannot do without these skills. To make life easier for your users, Google company released a photo translator - an addition to Google Translate - Word Lens. This mobile application translates text from a photograph, picture or other images with text. Google Photo Translator takes a photo and translates it into one of the 38 most common languages ​​in the world.

How to use Google Translate as a text translator with photos?

First of all, install Google app Translate with Word Lens, you don’t need to download Word Lens separately, it’s already built into the Google Translator application.

Download Google Translate for free and after that you can translate text from photos.

To use the Google Translate application as a photo translator, you need to launch the application, allow access to the camera on your mobile phone, point the smartphone camera at a picture with, for example, English or German languages. This is all. The online application will translate the text in the picture and display it to you. At the very beginning, when the application was first released, only a few languages ​​were available (Russian, English, French, Spanish, German and Italian), but now this list has been expanded to 38 languages, including the following translations:

• from Portuguese to Russian;
• from Japanese to Russian;
• from Chinese to Russian,
• from Arabic to Russian;
• even from Ukrainian to Russian;
• from Croatian to Russian;
• from Danish to Russian;
• from Mongolian to Russian;
• from French to Russian;
• and so on

But the developers of the photo text translator do not intend to stop there either. It is worth noting that all users were waiting for the release of simultaneous translation. They promise to further improve translation from pictures in real time so that it takes no more than a couple of seconds. Other features of the program are highlighted:

• users can hear how the text from the translated language sounds;
• synchronization with other applications and social media. networks;
• work offline, but only for iOS. To do this, you need to first download the dictionary to your phone;
• translation into simplified Chinese.

What does translating text from a photo with Google Translate look like in action?

The only negative is that translating text from a photo containing a handwritten test is difficult because it is difficult for the application to recognize it. Now you can only work in pairs with the English language, but later you can choose sets of languages ​​yourself. In Google Translate, for communication, you currently have to enter and translate text one by one, but they promise to change this, and then languages ​​will be detected automatically, which will also be applied to Word Lens.

In the video you can see the principle of operation of the mobile application - translator with photo:

Let us remind you that previously you had to pay for languages ​​to translate text from photographs, but after purchasing Quest Visual, any linguistic set became free, although not for long. Therefore, you should quickly download Google Translate from Word Lens to your phone if you are going on a trip and your English, Spanish or French is not good.

From personal experience of using an online photo translator

Quite recently I went on a trip to Hungary. The Hungarian language itself is very difficult, and Hungarians are in no hurry to learn English. Therefore, the application often came to the rescue, especially in the store, when choosing goods and souvenirs. A small life hack— I recommend downloading the dictionary into the application in advance so that you can translate text from photos without the Internet (offline).

The thought came to me that how much the world is improving. Of course, knowledge of languages ​​in itself is useful and necessary, but thanks to new technologies, this knowledge is not something unique. And if you look 10-20 years into the future, I see a picture where not only texts from photos and images are translated online, but also voices. When will the profession of translator be transferred to robots or such applications based on the first text in the photo, and they will still have to look for a new use for themselves. Alas.

Translation of voice or sound online

Among other things, the Google Translate application supports voice translation. So, while traveling, you can speak into the application in your language, and it will translate into the desired one and vice versa. The world is changing.

Help in learning a foreign language

I thought that the article would not be complete if I did not recommend an application that would help you not to use all kinds of online translators with photos or images, you will simply immediately understand the words. The application is as simple as possible. You learn only 10 words a day.

Easy Ten - 10 words a day - that's 70 new words a week, 300 new words a month, 3650 new words a year. At the same time, a native speaker uses an average of 3,000 words in everyday life.

And finally start learning 10 words a day. That's 5 minutes a day!

That’s all for sure now :)

For translation from a picture, among which there is Yandex.Translator for Android ().

What's the point

You upload a picture or photo to the site, and Yandex recognizes the text on it and translates it.

For example, you can take a photo of a menu, a sign, or a chart with captions. The translator is not very picky about the quality of the photo; a photo taken at an angle or stretched will do.

I noticed that the photo taken with the camera Samsung phone recognized much worse than photos from a normal camera or iPhone. It's about the quality of the optics and the resolution of the image. With Samsung it is only possible to recognize large letters.

What languages ​​are pictures recognized from?

From English, Russian, Spanish, Italian, German, Polish, Portuguese, Turkish, Ukrainian, French, Chinese, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and Czech - a total of 15 languages.

What languages ​​are the pictures translated into?

Almost any language; there are currently 94 languages ​​in the project.

Translation of pictures is also available in mobile version online, and also has applications for iOS and Android.

How to use - general algorithm

Nuances of use or how to improve translation quality

Pay attention to the option "Words", "Lines" and "Blocks". This is an important setting that affects the quality of the translation. It appears after you have uploaded the image.

• “Words” - what is written in the picture is perceived as separate words. And it is translated word by word.
• “Lines” – the text is translated line by line.
• “Blocks” – the text is translated as a single whole.

My picture has a line in it, so I select "Lines". And by default everything would be translated according to a separate word, which would be wrong. After all, I am translating the sentence “The Ministry of Health is tired of warning” as a whole, and not word by word.

And if I were translating a graph where incomprehensible words are assigned to the X and Y axis, I would select the “Words” option.

And the photographed paragraph from the book, of course, should be translated as a block.

Compare how the inscription in the picture is translated when you select the “Words” and “Lines” options:

Alternatives to a translator

The main competitor of Yandex.Translator is Google Translate. But it recognizes the Russian language worse. And in order to use it, you need to perform some tricky steps:

1. Upload the image to drive.google.com and right-click the file.
2. Select “Open with” -> “Google Docs”.

This is the recognition stage that converts the image into text.

From a mobile device, everything is much simpler: there are ones that support translation from the camera, including translators from Yandex, Abbyy, Google and Microsoft.

How does translation from a picture from Yandex.Translate work?

The work is divided into two stages: image recognition and text translation. And it helps a lot neural network– self-learning system. The more pictures she recognizes and translates, the better she knows how to do it correctly.

Previously, text translation used rigid algorithms that matched the source word to the translation according to the dictionary and grammar rules. The result was terrible.

Then statistical translation came into play - when a huge array of ready-made paired original-translation texts was involved in the translation. The algorithm searched for it and calculated the most likely result of the translation of a phrase or word. And the entire text was assembled from such probabilistic pieces. Yandex has used a statistical system since its launch.

Now a neural network is involved, which is capable of self-learning and copes well with processing natural data. And text and pictures are natural data. The neural network translates entire sentences without splitting them into individual phrases and words.

Since statistical translation works better in some cases, and a neural network works better in others, both are used. This is a hybrid translation system that is used now.

The quality has improved significantly. There are, of course, mistakes, but still this is a step forward compared to what it was 10 years ago.

Good day everyone!

Probably, almost each of us has come across photographs, pictures, and simply seen posters somewhere in a foreign language. And almost always, I would like to quickly translate and find out what is written there...

In general, in this case you can go in three ways:

1. open one and manually enter the desired text (this option is long, painful and dreary);
2. use programs for translating pictures into text (for example, ABBYY Fine Reader), and then copy the resulting text into a translator and find out the result;
3. use special applications and services that allow you to perform the operation of translating text from a picture (or photo) automatically (i.e., do what is described in paragraph 2 independently, without your participation).

Actually, this article will be about the third option. I note that in the article I will consider photo translators for both PCs and smartphones.

Note: I’ll immediately note that the better the quality of the source photo (picture), the better will be the quality of the recognized text from it, and the translation itself.

Online services (for PC)

I am an index translator

An excellent translation service from one language to another (it already supports more than 95 languages!). As for recognizing text in a picture, the Yandex service does an excellent job of this task (in no way inferior to the famous Fine Reader program).

In my example, I used a photo of a book page (in English). The steps for translation are quite simple:

1. follow the link provided above;
2. upload your picture with foreign text;
3. specify the language (usually the service determines it automatically. In my case, “Anglican -> Russian”);
4. then just click on the “Open in Translator” link (see screenshot below).

Left: the original text that was in the photo is presented, right is its translation. Of course, machine translation requires some work: you can copy the finished text and transfer it to Word for further development (I note that the quality of the translation also depends on the subject of the text. And since I took fiction, it is not translated very well).

Free Online OCR

Supports formats: JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, PDF, DjVu

Unlike Yandex, this service is less picky - it even supports the DjVu format (and it has quite a lot of English books, magazines, and articles).

In addition, I note that some photos (where rare fonts are used) are recognized by the service much better! And one more thing: the service allows you to use two translation options: using Google technology and with using Microsoft Translator. So, if there are pictures or photos that Yandex translator couldn’t handle, try this service!

How to use it:

1. go to the main page of the site (the address is indicated just above);
2. select the file you want to recognize;
3. indicate two languages: one, which is in the photo (English, for example); the second - which one you want to translate into (Russian).
4. press the "Upload + OCR" button (that is, upload and recognize the text on the photo).

After some time (depending on the size of the downloaded file), you will see the resulting text and several links above: you can select Google translator, Bing, or simply download the resulting text.

By choosing Bing, I received a translation of my text (the quality is not high, because the work is fiction).

Smartphone applications (Android)

G oogle translator

A very decent application for a smartphone that allows you to translate text into 103 languages ​​(I note that it supports 59 languages ​​offline - i.e. no Internet required!)!

The application has a built-in camera translation function in real time: i.e. Just point your phone camera at the English text - and you will see the text in Russian in the translator window! However, the arsenal also includes classic work: this is when a picture is photographed in a foreign language, and then the text is processed and output in Russian (for example).

It's quite simple to use:

1. launch the application and select two languages: the source (which is in the picture) and your native language into which you want to translate;
2. then click on the “camera” icon (see screenshot below, arrow No. 1);
3. then you need to point the camera at the foreign text (note that the application immediately displays the translation). However, if the text is long, I recommend taking a photo of it (see screenshot below, arrow No. 2).

Then click on the “Select All” button and click on the blue arrow. Next you will see your translation of the text. See screenshots below.

In general, everything is done very high quality and convenient. As a rule, almost everyone carries a phone with them, which means you can always quickly translate a poster or photo. I recommend you check it out!

ABBYY Lingvo

Several languages ​​are available for free use: Russian, English, German, French, Spanish.

This smartphone application allows you to translate many sentences, phrases and words without access to the Internet. In total, the application supports three types of translation:

• classic manual input: when you type the desired text yourself;
• from an already taken screenshot, picture or photograph;
• and using your phone camera (in 1 click!).

In general, a good assistant for travel, study and work. You can quickly translate a small text, a postcard, a newspaper article, correspondence with a colleague/friend, etc.

Peculiarities:

1. "live translation": point to a word from the displayed text on the screen - immediately get its translation;
2. photo translation: select a screenshot or photo and get a translation of the words captured on it;
3. 11 dictionaries are available for download to anyone (free of charge!);
4. convenient hints when searching for words;
5. the dictionary contains not only the translation of the word, but also its transcription, grammatical information about it, examples of use (you can also listen to it - very useful for those who learn a foreign language);
6. a history of words that you requested earlier is kept (it’s convenient to learn words by rechecking your memory from time to time!).

If you have anything to add, thanks in advance!

That's all, good luck everyone!

Good day, dear readers!

Today we’ll talk about what are online photo translators , what functionality they have and how they work.

For many people, translators in smartphones have long been familiar, which can be used at any time. Now there are services that not only translate the entered text, but can also do it directly from a photo.

Online photo text translator

How does this work? Let's say the user needs to translate the text that is on a photo or snapshot.

To do this, you need to extract the text and then translate it. To separate words from photos, you need to use OCR technology, which allows you to recognize text.

After this, the text is sent to a simple translator. If the image quality is good, any online text recognition services will do.

The scheme is built in two stages. The first is text extraction. The second is to translate the text using online service or applications on a PC or mobile device.

You can enter the text yourself, but you don’t always have time for this and it is a rather labor-intensive process.

To facilitate this operation, you need to combine two actions in one program. It is necessary for the application or service to recognize the text in the photo and at the same time translate it into Russian.

When using such photo translator applications, it is important to remember a few points:

Download photo translator

Let's look at some applications for mobile devices to get acquainted with their functionality.

Google photo translator

This application is one of the most popular in the store Google Play . Works google translator not only from photo, but also by manually entering text, that is, it can be used as a regular translator.

INSTALL APPLICATION

The program can easily work without Internet access. To do this, you will need to download in advance language packs. However, google translator, translates from photo, which allows you to save space on your device.

No need to download unnecessary files. Additionally, the application has the function of speech recognition, translation of SMS messages and handwritten text.

In addition to translating foreign text, the program also displays its transcription. The application has some shortcomings regarding its actual operation, but they will probably be eliminated soon.

This app works in 30 languages ​​and also supports photo translation. There are also exercises to help you remember words.

This is convenient when learning languages. All the words you need to translate are voiced by professional native speakers. You can add your own word forms to dictionaries.

INSTALL APPLICATION

When translating from a photo, the application works well. It is only necessary that the photo is taken in good lighting and not from a side angle.

If the photo was taken in poor conditions, the text will not be recognized even partially. The program will simply display a message about the impossibility of translation.

The application is constantly updated and improved, bugs that led to crashes and incorrect operation are corrected.

This application specializes in text recognition from photos. Its special feature is that it works with 60 languages, the packages of which are already built into the program.

This means that you won’t have to download them additionally. The text you work with can be saved on your phone.

INSTALL APPLICATION

It is also saved in internal files program and is easily accessible for basic functions.

The huge number of built-in languages ​​slows down the scanning process somewhat, since it is necessary to initially recognize the language. To reduce work time, it is better to select the original language in advance.

A small drawback of the application may be that it only supports standard image formats.

In addition, the translation text is not formatted; it is issued in bulk. Paragraphs and other emphasis are ignored, leaving only spaces between words.

Photo Translate

This translator from photos into Russian works online. Without the Internet, he can only recognize text. The application does not have its own database, which means it cannot be used offline.

INSTALL APPLICATION

Applications for translating text from pictures are also available on Windows Phone . The program has a simple name and sufficient functionality.

It is developed search engine Bing. It contains additional function learning new words.

INSTALL APPLICATION

This is implemented through the “word of the day” displayed on the phone screen. An interesting feature is the ability to display translated text directly on top of the original.

It can be disabled. It may not be very convenient if the picture has small font and a lot of words.

iSignTranslate

Using the application, you can translate text into Russian in real time. This is convenient for translating text on the street, for example, signs, advertisements and other things. The program was created by Russian developers.

When downloading, only two languages ​​are available - English and Russian. You can add 8 more languages ​​to them, but they are only available for a fee.

The application uses third-party online translators from Bing, Yandex And Google. This means that you will need an Internet connection to work.

INSTALL APPLICATION

The application has some glitches. For example, users are faced with the following problem: the camera produces an error that can only be corrected when pointing at another object.

The program recognizes only standard fonts ranging in size from 0.5 to 3 cm. Translating a small piece of text takes up to 20 seconds of holding the camera still.

Conclusion

When using this type of application, you should remember that machine translation will not be perfect. It will be approximate and some phrases, and sometimes sentences, will have to be translated independently.

This is a problem for any automatic translator. You can download photo translators for different mobile devices.

For each system there are several options that have their own advantages. Your choice will depend on your preferences and needs.

Sincerely, Alexander Gavrin.

Users are faced with the need to translate text from photos online. Situations can be different: there is text in a photograph that needs to be extracted from the image and translated into another language, there is an image of a document in a foreign language, text from the picture needs to be translated, etc.

You can use text recognition programs that use OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology to extract text from images. Then, the text extracted from the photo can be translated using a translator. If the original image is of good quality, then in most cases free online text recognition services will do.

In this case, the entire operation takes place in two stages: first, text recognition occurs in a program or online service, and then the text is translated using an online translator or an application installed on the computer. You can, of course, copy text from a photo manually, but this is not always justified.

Is there a way to combine two technologies in one place: immediately recognize and transfer a test from a photograph online? Unlike mobile applications(we'll talk about them later in the article), there is practically no choice for desktop users. But, nevertheless, I found two options for how to translate text from an image online in one place, without the help of programs and other services.

An online photo translator will recognize the text in the image and then translate it into the desired language.

When translating from images online, pay attention to some points:

• the quality of text recognition depends on the quality of the original image;
• In order for the service to open the picture without problems, the image must be saved in a common format (JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, etc.);
• if possible, check the extracted text to eliminate recognition errors;
• The text is translated using machine translation, so the translation may not be perfect.

We will use Yandex Translator and the Free Online OCR online service, which includes functionality to translate text extracted from a photograph. You can use these services to translate from English into Russian, or use other language pairs of supported languages.

On mobile devices Users have access to different methods for translating from photos. In this article we will analyze the applications Google Translator, Yandex Translator, Microsoft Translator.

To use applications for translation from photos on mobile phones, two prerequisites must be met: the presence of a camera on the device, which is used to capture images for translation, and an Internet connection for text recognition on the remote translator server.

Yandex Translator for translation from pictures

Yandex.Translator integrates OCR optical character recognition technology, with which text is extracted from photographs. Then, using Yandex Translator technologies, the extracted text is translated into the selected language.

Go through the following steps sequentially:

1. Sign in Yandex Translator to the “Pictures” tab.
2. Select the source language. To do this, click on the name of the language (displayed by default English language). If you don't know what language is in the image, the translator will start auto-detection of the language.
3. Select the language to translate. By default, the Russian language is selected. To change the language, click on the language name and select another supported language.
4. Select a file on your computer or drag a picture into the online translator window.

1. After Yandex Translator recognizes the text from the photo, click “Open in Translator”.

1. Two fields will open in the translator window: one with text in a foreign language (in this case, English), the other with a translation into Russian (or another supported language).

If the photo was of poor quality, it makes sense to check the recognition quality. Compare the translated text with the original in the picture, correct any errors found.

You can change the translation in Yandex Translator. To do this, turn on the “New translation technology” switch. The translation is carried out simultaneously by a neural network and a statistical model. The algorithm automatically selects best option translation.

Copy the translated text to text editor. If necessary, edit the machine translation and correct errors.

Translation from photos online to Free Online OCR

The free online service Free Online OCR is designed to recognize characters from files of supported formats. The service is suitable for translation, since it optionally has capabilities for translating recognized text.

Unlike Yandex Translator, Free Online OCR achieves acceptable recognition quality only on fairly simple images, without the presence of foreign elements in the picture.

Follow these steps:

1. Login to .
2. In the “Select your file” option, click on the “Browse” button, select a file on your computer.
3. In the “Recognition language(s) (you can select multiple)” option, select the required language from which you want to translate (you can select multiple languages). Click on the field and add the desired language from the list.
4. Click on the “Upload + OCR” button.

1. After recognition, the text from the image will be displayed in a special field. Check the recognized text for errors.

1. To translate text, click on the “Google Translator” or “Bing Translator” link to use one of the online translation services. Both translations can be compared and the best option can be selected.

Copy the text into a text editor. If necessary, edit and correct errors.

Google Translate: translating photos on mobile phones

The Google Translate application is used on mobile phones running operating systems Android and iOS. Install the program on your smartphone from the appropriate application stores.

The Google Translator application has extensive functionality:

• translation of text into 103 languages ​​and back;
• quick translation function;
• offline text translation (you will first need to download the necessary data);
• translation in camera mode with support for 37 languages;
• quick camera translation of inscriptions in 38 languages;
• handwriting translation support;
• Conversational translation in 28 languages.

Google Translate translates text in photographs, pictures, signs, magazines, books, etc. The Google Translate application uses two ways to translate text from photos:

• Real-time mode - instant translation of text when you point your phone camera.
• Translation in camera mode - take a picture of the text and then receive the translation.

First, let's look at the translation function in camera mode, which is most suitable in most cases.

1. Launch the Google Translate app on your phone.
2. In the translator window, select the translation direction, and then click on the “Camera” icon.

1. Point your phone camera at the text you want to translate. Level the camera, turn on additional lighting if necessary. Take a photo.

1. After performing recognition, in the next window you need to select a section of text, or click on the “Select all” button.

1. Two small fields will appear at the top of the window with the original and translated text. Click on the arrow in the translation field to open the full text translation in the adjacent window.

To perform quick translation in camera mode, turn on instant translation mode (the button will turn green), if necessary, turn on additional lighting, level the camera.

A quick translation into the selected language will appear on the phone screen.

The instant translation function is inferior in quality to translation using the camera mode.

Yandex Translator: translating photos on mobile devices

Yandex Translator application for mobile phones, like the online service of the same name, can translate text in photographs.

Main Features Yandex Translator:

• online translation into 90 languages;
• Offline translation support for 6 languages;
• photo translation;
• translation of sites in the application;
• translation of spoken individual words or phrases;
• automatic selection of translation direction;
• dictionary;
• translation of text in applications from context menu, starting from version Android0.

Launch the Yandex Translator application, click on the camera icon.

Capture the desired text on camera. In this case, I took a photo of Instagram text from my computer screen.

After performing recognition, click on the icon in the upper right corner of the screen.

Yandex Translator offers unique functions that increase recognition accuracy. If the quality of recognition is poor, select recognition by words, lines, blocks (button in the lower left corner).

In the translator window, the original text will be displayed at the top, and the main part of the screen is occupied by the translation of the text from the photo.

In the application window, you can listen to the original and translation of the test, voiced using a voice engine, dictate something, synchronize (there are size restrictions) the translation, send the translation to its destination, save the translation on a card.

Microsoft Translator: translating text from photos and screenshots

Microsoft Translator has built-in functionality for translating text in images: photographs and screenshots.

Key Features Microsoft Translator:

• support for online and offline translation in more than 60 languages;
• voice translation;
• simultaneous speech translation for conversation in two languages;
• translation of text into photographs or screenshots;
• listening to translated phrases;
• Translating text in other applications via the context menu.

An example of using Microsoft Translator:

In the application window, click on the camera.

Point your phone camera at the desired text. Select the translation direction. Microsoft Translator has an option to enable additional lighting.

Capture the text on camera.

A translation of the photo will appear in the application window, displayed on top of the main layer of the image.

The translation text can be copied to the clipboard. To do this, click on the corresponding icon in the translator window.

Conclusions of the article

Using Yandex Translator and the Free Online OCR online service, you can translate text into the desired language from photographs or pictures online. The text from the image will be extracted and translated into Russian or another supported language.

In mobile applications Google phones Translator, Yandex Translator, Microsoft Translator, the user first takes a photo with the camera, and then the applications automatically translate the text from the photo.